The Regional Workshop on South-South Cooperation in Flood Management organised by GWPO and GWP China was held from 14 to 16 December 2015 in Guangdong, China.
The 21st session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP21) adopted a new climate agreement in Paris, France, on 12 December. GWP welcomes the landmark agreement, which was signed by nearly 200 countries, and is committed to support it.
GWP Southeast Asia has produced a video as part of their Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP). It introduces the district of Maesot in west Thailand, where communities are helping each other to deal with flood related problems.
GWP Senior Knowledge Management Officer Dr. Danka Thalmeinerova conducted a training on the IWRM ToolBox in Sao Paolo, Brazil, on 9-10 December. The workshop was targeted at university lecturers from Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil.
GWP Chair Dr. Ursula Schaefer-Preuss participated in the Sixth Meeting for High-level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters (HELP) and the Second UN Special Thematic Session on Water and Disasters in New York, USA, in November.
The Chair of GWP West Africa, Prof. Abel AFOUDA accompanied by the Regional Coordinator and Communication took part in the GWP regional days 2015 in Stockholm from 22 to 25 November. This meeting was an opportunity to review the progress made by the global network in its fields of action and to make projections into the future. GWP and several partners express satisfaction since their efforts to have a water dedicated sustainable development goal come true. Discussions are underway to better position the network of partners in supporting countries to be successful in the implementation of the SDGs as a whole but especially the goal 6 with its different targets. Discussions at the regional days gathered ideas for a better positioning of GWP.
One of the key IDMP actions in West Africa is the establishment of the national platforms in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger and at regional level. These platforms will be used to discuss issues related to the integrated drought management. In Niger a meeting held on November 5 to set up the national platform on Integrated Drought Management (GIS) in the country. The finalization of the project document for the institutional framework of PGIS Niger was also discussed.
Pursuant to a decision of the General Assembly of Partners taking into account budgetary limits, the Secretariat has organized the meeting of the Steering Committee electronically at the end of October 2015.
Like all players in the WASH sector, the Consultation Framework of Non-state actors in the water sector and sanitation (Canea) celebrated World Toilet Day (WTD) on November 19, 2015 through financial support from WSSCC. It was an opportunity to mobilize all stakeholders for a public debate around the effectiveness of the END OPEN AIR defecation (ODF) for better health of the population.
The village communities of Tampizua II in the Bawku Municipality and Azum Sapelga in the Binduri district of Northern Ghana are very happy with the field demonstration project being implemented in their communities. Located on the borders of the White Volta River these communities are experiencing various unfortunate situations such as floodings that are affecting their livelihoods because of climate related factors.